41 Westgate Street

Summary

A shop and dwelling, originating in the late C16 as the western half of a two-bay building; extended to the rear in the C17; and with various alterations subsequently. The structure has undergone a C21 renovation.

Reasons for Designation

41 Westgate Street is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as a multi-phase building with a significant proportion of its historic fabric surviving from its principal periods of development;
* for the legibility of the building’s character and evolution in the surviving fabric, including the good-quality box-framed C16 front range, partitioned to create two units on the upper floors, with the roof raised; and the C17, more makeshift rear range, built onto the framework of the adjacent buildings.

Historic interest:

* for its origins as a single building with the adjacent 39 Westgate Street, where documentary records chronicle the use and occupancy, which together with surviving fabric provides evidence of the evolution of the building;
* as one of an extensive group of listed buildings, which illustrate the historic development and commercial history of one of Gloucester’s principal streets.

Group value:

* with the adjacent listed building, 39 Westgate Street, with which it shares a common history.

History

Westgate Street has long represented a vital thoroughfare in Gloucester. It forms part of the cruciform arrangement of streets which sit in alignment with the original Roman street plan of the city. Of the four principal streets laid out, Westgate Street was particularly important, as it connected the centre of the city with the quays on the River Severn, and with the bridge over the river with road routes to the west into Wales. In the medieval period, Westgate Street formed part of the main commercial hub of the city.

39 and 41 Westgate Street are two separately listed multi-phase structures which recent research has shown originated as a single building. The history of the building plots has been well documented (Lane, 2023), and informs our understanding of the development of the present structure on the site. The plots have been built upon since the C12 or C13, and in the late C16 came under a single occupation and underwent reconstruction, creating a two-bay two-storey timber-framed building which ran parallel to the street front. This building was jettied along the north, street-front elevation, at least in the western bay, and probably originally the eastern bay as well. Whether the jetty returned along the east elevation, along Bull Lane, is unclear. The ground floor would have contained a commercial unit within each bay, whereas the first floor and attic were single spaces. Beneath the western bay, number 41, is a vaulted brick cellar, probably contemporary with the late-C16 rebuilding. A first-floor doorway is set within the west gable-end framing of number 41; this suggests there was some communication with the upper floor of the adjacent building, 43 Westgate Street (listed at Grade II). Evidence suggests number 43 underwent some subsequent reconstruction as there is no doorway within its first-floor framing.

Number 39 was extended to the rear soon after the late-C16 construction of the front range. A corresponding extension was made to the rear of number 41, probably in the C17 and possibly at the point that the building was separated into two separate tenements. The single-bay, timber-framed structure runs off the rear range of number 39: rather than having an independent eastern frame, beams are jointed to the existing posts and rails of the earlier, adjacent rear range. This is also the case for where the rear range meets the southern wall of the front range. The south and east elevations of the rear range are properly framed; survival is best on the first floor, where there are corner posts with rounded jowels, stud walls and the western truss of the queen post roof. The extension was slightly narrower than the front range, allowing for a passage to the rear yard.

The jettied elevation of the front range was underbuilt, probably sometime in the C18 or early C19, increasing the size of the ground floor shop unit and creating flush façade. The roof was raised to create a taller loft space. Originally, a low attic would have served for storage or sleeping, but the raising and insertion of a dormer provided a more useful space.

The building was renovated in 2023. The jetty was reinstated and a replacement, timber-framed shopfront inserted. Internally, the surviving framing was conserved and reinforced, and windows to the upper floors were replaced.

Details

A shop and dwelling, originating in the late C16 as the western half of a two-bay building; extended to the rear in the C17; and with various alterations subsequently. The structure has undergone a C21 renovation.

MATERIALS: a timber-framed structure with a slate roof.

PLAN: the building has a double-depth plan occupying a linear footprint, facing north-east onto Westgate Street.

EXTERIOR: the principal elevation of the front range is a single bay and two storeys and an attic. On the ground floor is a C21 timber shop front; a boxed section on the left contains reused window shutters with historic wallpapers, surviving from when the façade was built out. The first floor is jettied, and the elevation has small box-framing. A C21 tripartite casement window is set within a central opening. The roof is pitched, in line with the facade, and has a flat-roofed dormer with a C21 two-light casement. The two-storey rear range, enveloped by adjacent buildings, has a pitched roof running parallel with the front range.

INTERIOR: the C16 front section of the building retains a good degree of timber framing to the side walls and floor frames, with some fabric now concealed by modern panelling. On the ground floor, are deep, chamfered girding and cross beams carrying thick joists. These bear the remains of white paint, later ceiled with lath and plaster. Access to the first floor is via a winder stair in a timber-framed compartment. Degradation of the framing over centuries has resulted in considerable movement: the first floor is far out of level. The ceiling has a deep chamfered cross beam and wide joists. The attic room has studs and braces are exposed on the rear wall. The A-frame roof structure, raised in the C18 or early C19, retains some deep rafters on the rear pitch, and is largely rebuilt to the front.

The C17 rear, two-storey part of the building has a jowled post and deep chamfered cross beam on the ground floor. The rear wall is brick, with a concave section which possibly housed a copper. There is a brick chimneybreast with a cut-down bressumer with taper marks and inscriptions. On the first floor, the remains of a timber screen and deep bridging beam separate the rear cell, which has jowled corner posts. The right gable of the roof is a queen post truss with lath and plaster infill, and has a window in the central section. There are deep coupled rafters with a single rank of purlins.

The cellar is accessed by a winder stair in a brick compartment and has an opening from the pavement. It is brick-built and has a segmental barrel-vaulted ceiling, with a former hatch to the ground floor boarded over.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

472625

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Websites
41 Westgate Street, Gloucester, Monument Number: 42441, Gloucestershire County Council Historic Environment, accessed 10 February 2024 from https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=42441&resourceID=108

Other
[Draft Report] 39-41 Westgate Street, Gloucester: Historic Building Assessment, Rebecca Lane, Historic England, 2023

End of official list entry

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